{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/sam/sn36-4b.htm","path":"bud/sam/sn36-4b.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/sam/sn36-4b.htm","text":"From Contemplation of Feeling: The Discourse-grouping on the Feelings (WH 303), translated from the Pali by Nyanaponika Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983).\nWho cannot bear the painful body-feelings that arise\nendangering his life, he trembles when afflicted.\nHe wails and cries aloud, a weak and feeble man.\nHe cannot stand against the pit,\nnor can a foothold he secure.\nBut one who bears the painful body-feelings that arise,\nnot trembling when his very life is threatened,\nhe truly can withstand that pit\nand gain a foothold in its depth.\n2. Comy. (paraphrased): According to popular belief, there is in the ocean a very deep abyss hollowed out by the force of the water, which is the abode of aquatic animals as well as dragon deities (naga), etc. Hence, for these beings, this abyss provides a basis for their existence, a comfortable abode. Therefore, to call it a bottomless pit is unrealistic and not factual, because it gives an inadequate and non-evident meaning to the word. It is rather bodily pain, inseparable from bodily existence, which deserves to be called a \"bottomless pit\" of suffering, being a part of unfathomable Samsara. [Go back]\n3. Comy.: In this Discourse, by the words \"noble disciple,\" it is, in the first place, a Stream-winner (sotapanna) that is meant. But also a meditator with strong insight and keen intellect is capable of withstanding feelings that arise without being carried away by them. He, too, ought to be included here (because he penetrates the feelings to some extent; Sub-comy.). [Go back]","title":"SN XXXVI.4 Patala Sutta","type":"page"}